Burns

Robert Burns

Toddy rummer, Royal Dumfries Volunteers

This large toddy rummer is engraved with a crown above initials "R D V" [Royal Dumfries Volunteers] and bears the emblem of Dumfries - St Michael above a slain dragon. It came from the Officers Mess.

The Royal Dumfries Volunteers were founded in 1795 to counter the threat from post revolutionary France. Robert Burns, whose loyalty to Great Britain had been called into question by his support for the French revolutionaries, joined immediately. He had also lost the friendship of Mrs Dunlop, an Edinburgh correspondent, because of his political leanings, and he now sent a song, "The Dumfries Volunteers" to her. This song became popular throughout Britain.